Aero Battle Royale Review (PC)

A game priced at $10 and below can make you scroll past it without giving it a fair chance. Aero Battle Royale feels like one of those games, currently going for $5.94, thanks to an ongoing 15% discount sale ending on August 19, 2024. 

It’s the perfect time to grab the opportunity to soar the skies in the game’s arcade gaming experience. Still, if you’re on the fence about it, you can always read through our Aero Battle Royale review to get a better idea of what you can expect in your playthrough.

King of the Skies

It’s simple, really. Jump inside the cockpit of a plane and steer your way to victory. But it can also go beyond mere racing into an exhilarating gaming experience with friends. Moreover, you have the freedom to shoot rival planes out of the sky. Combined, Aero Battle Royale’s premise sells itself as a high-stake arcade racing experience you won’t want to miss out on. 

You can choose from different types of planes. Further, you can select several game modes, including arcade and championship. And, of course, you have free reign over whether to venture out into the wild solo or with a team of friends and family. As far as I can tell, there isn’t a profound story here. All you’re tasked with is racing as fast as you can and becoming the first to cross the finish line.

Lightning Bolt

The racing itself performs relatively smoothly. It’s easy to control the plane, maneuvering your way through tight spaces and around sharp corners. Of course, you’ll be taking to the skies. The air is your circuit. Moreover, it allows for you to go deep inside canyons and soar high above skyscrapers. There’s a sense of verticality that adds depth to the races. 

In fact, the verticality of racing is often what keeps you on your toes. Because, as much as you’re speeding forward, you also need to consider your environment. It’s pretty standard that you’ll be bogged down by plenty of obstacles. Fly too low, and the obstacles can cause you to crash land. Flying too high also means that the plane you’re controlling will be unable to withstand the pull of gravity. 

Keen Eye

Besides keeping your plane at its optimum level, you also need to keep track of the obstacles ahead. Sometimes, you’ll need to make sharp turns, like any other racing game. If you make the turn too early or too late, you could risk slowing down and possibly crashing into opponents or other obstacles. 

No, really. The racing environments have been designed to challenge you and push you to the limits. You’ll approach obstacles as far as the eye can see, and it’s up to you to keep track of them during moment-to-moment gameplay. Often, you’ll need to make snappy decisions about how steep a fast-approaching canyon is and react with precision. 

In that regard, the planes can sometimes feel floaty. As much as the controls are fluid and responsive, it can sometimes feel like you have minimal control over your aircraft. Some crashes hardly feel like your fault and more like the game punishing you for the sake of portraying a high difficulty. 

At Your Own Pace

Speaking of difficulty, you can choose from multiple options, including rookie, veteran, and more. It’s the best way to induct yourself into the game’s mechanics. Because the truth is, they can take a while to master. Aero Battle Royale is a pretty challenging game, despite how easy it may look on the marketing material. At first, you’ll crash a tad too many times, and it’ll begin to feel unfair. However, once you get a grapple on the mechanics, you’ll start winning races. 

It’s worth mentioning that sometimes you can win races even though you still feel like you’re learning the mechanics. So much so that it feels like the game is delivering wins to you on a silver platter. A part of the reason winning races can feel like you haven’t quite earned it is that keeping track of rival planes is tough. You’re often placing all of your attention on steering your aircraft, so much so that you forget to keep track of where rival planes are. 

In any case, the inconsistency of winning races can put you off. Ultimately, you want to feel like you’re progressing, sharpening your skills the more you play. That way, you have the motivation to keep racing, if only to get better and better with each run. Unfortunately, progression in Aero Battle Royale feels somewhat lacking and underdeveloped.

Higher Stakes

There’s a sometimes too loud sound that echoes mid-race, informing you that a rival plane behind you is attempting to lock on your plane. The idea is that it serves as a warning to get out of there or risk being blown out of the sky. As such, you can maneuver your plane to the left and right to shake them off. But that is often a temporary solution. The best way to evade incoming fire is to speed up.

Fortunately, you have a boost meter that, once full, allows you to pick up pace enough to shake off an enemy plane. The meter fills up while racing, and once full, you’re free to drain the meter and take advantage of the boost to speed past opponents. But you need to use the meter cautiously because its cool-down period can take a while, and you don’t want it to catch you off guard when a rival plane is hot on your tail.

Dogfights Reloaded

While as a rookie, you’ll barely have the capacity to shoot rival planes. Most of your energy will be spent on keeping your plane in the sky long enough to cross the finish line. However, once you become more confident in your flying skills, you can begin to master dogfights. 

Aero Battle Royale is a battle royale that allows you to shoot rival planes out of the sky. The winner becomes the last plane standing that crosses the finish line first. It’s pretty fun, especially with friends and family. When an aircraft in the lead begins to feel a little too comfortable, you can trail behind them, lock onto their plane, and shoot to kill. 

Of course, there’s a lot of multi-tasking involved: keeping track of obstacles, speeding up by flying through power-ups, and shooting, but it’s all well worth the trouble once you come out on top.

Breathtaking Visuals

The races take place in stunning environments that take your breath away. You’ll race in visuals steeped in vibrant color and detail. Canyons are easy to spot from afar. Flying between skyscrapers feels surreal. Even the explosions as rival planes crash land into the earth look authentic. 

While the screen will often have lots of stuff going on, they’re all easy to keep track of. You have a map at the top right of the screen showing you how much ground you have left to cover. There’s a tracker that informs you of your current position in the race. There’s also a tracker for how many laps you’ve completed and how many are left. It’s all so clean and well-organized that you hardly struggle to find important information. Of course, your eyes will almost always be trained on the actual race itself. 

The music score, too, is energetic, pumping adrenaline when races become steamy. Sound effects, too, get the job done, although they could have been more seamless. Overall, Aero Battle Royale nails its visual appeal; it’s a wonder that it’s going for under $10.

Verdict

At less than $10, Aero Battle Royale seems like the type to scroll past quickly. But it does offer some exciting features worth exploring. You jump into fast and furious races against rival planes. Steering your plane can take a while to master as you crash land into obstacles and make turns a little too late. The game can humble you, nudging you to perfect your run in the rookie difficulty before joining the big leagues. But it’s all a blast to experience, especially when you’re soaring through blissful cities and breathtaking canyons. The environments are deeply varied, keeping your run-through constantly refreshing. 

And so, even at your tenth or 100th run, you still enjoy a brisk and fun arcade racing experience. It becomes even more worthwhile, thanks to a compact dogfighting experience. If a rival plane is nearly crossing the finish line, you can shoot them out of the sky to claim the crown. Odds can quickly change when you have a powerful arsenal in your corner. Plus, you can take advantage of power-ups to gain an upper hand over opponents at the last minute. Aero Battle Royale has immense opportunities to pack and have plenty of fun, whether solo or with friends and family. It’s the perfect game to jump into for short bursts of adrenaline-infused racing. Just keep in mind that the game has an offer of $5.94, currently active till August 19, 2024, that is well worth the gaming experience you receive in return.